Lieberman v. Weil
Lieberman v. Weil
Opinion of the Court
The following opinion was filed January 11, 1910:
The defendants contend that the provisions of the first paragraph of the contract are controlling as to the compensation which plaintiff should receive. If this view of the contract is correct, plaintiff failed to show that he was entitled to recover any damages whatever. Defendants fur
Considering the first paragraph of the contract alone, the plaintiff would be entitled to receive a commission on his sales for his compensation. The third paragraph, however, •seems to plainly provide that the plaintiff should have a salary of $2,700 per year. There is no covenant that any part of this salary should be refunded in the event that the commission provided for in the first paragraph should be less than the •salary account provided for in the third. Neither is there any provision for a refund in the final paragraph of the contract, which designated how and when settlements between the parties should be made. This fact, coupled with the positive agreement to pay $2,700 per annum in salary, leads us to the •conclusion that, construing the instrument as a whole, the plaintiff was entitled to draw the salary provided in the agreement, and that the provisions of the first paragraph of the contract were inoperative so long as the commissions on sales did not exceed the salary provided for. Parol evidence of the negotiations between the parties which resulted in the written contract was offered and received without objection. If we concede the contract to be ambiguous and the parol evidence referred to competent, a consideration thereof and of the practical construction apparently placed upon the contract by the parties lead to the same conclusion.
It is conceded that by the terms of the contract the defendants might discharge the plaintiff if they were dissatisfied with him, and that it was immaterial whether the reasons for dissatisfaction existed in fact or in imagination. But the “dissatisfaction must not be capricious or mercenary, nor result from a dishonest design to be dissatisfied in any event.
The jury found that the defendants did not in good faith •discharge the plaintiff because his services were unsatisfactory. There is a very considerable quantum of evidence in' .the case to support this finding, notwithstanding the fact that the defendants on the trial gave entirely satisfactory reasons for the discharge. The jury evidently believed that the reasons given on the trial were not the ones that actuated the defendants in making the discharge. It would serve no useful purpose to recapitulate the testimony which we conclude is sufficient to support the verdict. These views render it un■necessary to discuss other questions argued by the appellants.
By the Court. — 'Judgment affirmed..
A motion for a rehearing was denied February 22, 1910.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Lieberman v. Weil and another
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Master and servant: Compensation: Contract of employment conr-strued: Discharge: Dissatisfaction: Good faith. 1: By a contract with, k traveling salesman his employer agreed to-pay him a certain commission, on cash collected on sales made by him and, in a later paragraph, agreed to allow him to have a, salary account of a certain sum per annum, payable in monthly instalments. Bums advanced on the salary account were to be deducted from commissions that might he due, hut there was no provision that any part of the salary should be refunded if the commissions earned fell below that sum. Held, that the salesman was entitled to the salary, and the provision as to commissions was inoperative so long as they did not exceed the-salary. 2. Under a contract by which an employee agrees to perform services to the satisfaction of his employers, they may discharge-him if dissatisfied, and it is immaterial whether the reasons for dissatisfaction exist in fact or in imagination; but the dissatisfaction must be real and in good faith.